Congress celebrate birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Shastri and launched “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod” Signature Campaign
Jammu, October 02, 2025: A function was held at PCC HQ Shaheedi Chowk Jammu to celebrate the birth anniversary of Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bhadur Shastri. The function was organized by District Congress Committee Jammu Urban under the leadership of Th. Manmohan Singh and attended by Senior leaders of PCC, Youth Congress, Seva Dal, Mahila Congress, District Congress Committee and Block Congress Committees.
Sh. Raman Bhalla (Former Minister) Working President PCC presided over the function while Senior leaders Th. Balwan Singh (Ex-MLA), Yogesh Sawhney ( Ex-Minister) Ved Mahajan (Ex-MLC), Rajnish Sharma ( Treasurer), T.S.Tony (DDC), Amrit Bali, Satish Sharma, Dwarka Choudhary, Vijay Sharma (Seva Dal), Sanjeev Panda, Neeraj Gupta, Vijay Shastri, Rajesh Sharma, Thomas Khokhar, Sat Pal Sapolia, Latish Sharma, Rakesh Sharma, Vijant Pathania, Sohit Sharma, Anuradha Sharma Diwan Chand, Paras Ram Baloria, Gagan Deep Singh Lucky, Varun Magotra, Sub. Tarseem Lal, Ch. Maqbool, Pawan Kumar, Janak Raj, Arun Sharma, Gurmeet Singh, Rajinder Singh, Munish Kumar Balwainder Singh Rinku, Parveen Basotra, Vipan Sharma, Jasvir Sigh, Aman Bawa and others attended.
The Speakers remembered Mahatma Gandhi and described him as one of the tallest leader of the world who dethroned the mightiest rulers through his philosophy and weapon of Sataya Grah (Non-Violence). The entire world acknowledged Mahatma Gandhi as a leader of a great vision and learned lesson from his philosophy which shall remain relevant for all times to come. They said that his philosophy and principles are becoming more and more relevant even today and India can remain united and stronger by following his philosophy and teachings they said there is no alternative to the basic principles of “unity in diversity” because of the pluralistic composition of our country. Those forces which are opposed to this fundamental philosophy are sowing the seeds of disunity and division of India and all right thinking people must unite and rise to the occasion to defeat the designs of communal and divisive forces.
The speakers also remembered Former Prime Minister Lal Bhadur Shastri and recalled his contribution to the nation and his commitment to Honesty, Integrity and simplicity, who realized the strength of this nation in the Gandhian philosophy and gave the slogan of “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”.
Addressing the gathering Sh. Raman Bhalla said that the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi is relevant for all times to come and even more relevant today when an atmosphere of conflicts and violence prevails in different parts of the world. He said that Mahatma Gandhi led the nation to freedom through non-violence against the mighty British rulers. He said that India is known allover world by the philosophy of Non-Violence and tolerance, since India as a pluralistic society has proved itself to be the most successful democracy in the world. He also remembered the contributions of Lal Bhadur Shastri and paid rich tributes to him for his outstanding role in the freedom struggle and later in different capacities especially as Prime Minister. He said that Shastri Ji was symbol of honesty, integrity, and dedications towards the nation.
On this occasion JKPCC also launched “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod” Signature Campaign. Disclosing further PCC Working President Raman Bhalla said that the large-scale Vote Chori and manipulation of electoral rolls have deeply shaken people’s faith in the very foundation of our Republic. This is not an isolated crime, but part of a larger assault on our Constitution, a weakening of our economy, the perpetuation of systemic social injustice, and a grave threat to India’s integrity. In response, our Party launched a three-phase nationwide agitation. The third phase, being carried out from 15th September to 15th October 2025, through a coordinated, door-to-door and public outreach effort, we are committed to collecting maximum signatures against this brazen theft of votes. District, block, and mandal-level functionaries are leading the campaign in their respective areas.
Th. Balwan Singh in his address recalled the fundamental principles of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and said that his life is full of lessons for everyone . He said that a great country like ours can only get strengthen and united by following the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi. He said Congress is the only party which truly represents the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi and keep the country united based on those principles by representing the divergent and pluralistic society.
Shri Yogesh Sawhney said that Gandhi Ji’s philosophy is the only way out to sort out and resolve the conflicts and end violence in the world and the entire world should learn lesson from the philosophy and ideology of Mahatma Gandhi for mutual Co-Existence of people of different faiths and interests.
Shari Ved Mahajan, Rajnish Sharma and T.S. Tony in their addresses paid floral tributes to the Mahatma Gandhi and said that the stalwarts of freedom struggle under Mahatma’s leadership suffered a lot of hardships and made several sacrifices to achieve freedom. It was based on the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi that the idea of India was translated into action as a free country based on equality and justice to all, irrespective of caste, creed, color or religions and the country has withstood the challenges all these years as a vibrant democracy both from within and outside . They referred to the contribution of Lal Bhadur Shastri, who gave the slogan of Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan and led the nation to victory in 1965 war .
Th. Manmohan Singh who Co-ordinated the function paid rich tributes to the Mahatma Gandhi and Sh Lal Bhadur Shastri. He said that entire world draws lesson from the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and Sh Shastri. He said that it is the time to further strengthen the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi in order to create a harmonious atmosphere of living in the country and the world.
